Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) Shares Bought by Choate Investment Advisors

Choate Investment Advisors raised its stake in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 7.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 28,433 shares of the social networking company’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,021 shares during the period. Choate Investment Advisors’ holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $16,648,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in META. Howard Capital Management Group LLC lifted its stake in Meta Platforms by 17.9% during the 3rd quarter. Howard Capital Management Group LLC now owns 1,652 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $946,000 after acquiring an additional 251 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in Meta Platforms by 6.5% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 3,368,361 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $1,928,185,000 after purchasing an additional 204,412 shares during the period. United Bank lifted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 22.2% during the third quarter. United Bank now owns 5,569 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $3,188,000 after purchasing an additional 1,011 shares in the last quarter. Connable Office Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.6% in the third quarter. Connable Office Inc. now owns 5,655 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $3,237,000 after purchasing an additional 31 shares during the period. Finally, Signature Estate & Investment Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 6.8% in the third quarter. Signature Estate & Investment Advisors LLC now owns 119,583 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $68,454,000 after purchasing an additional 7,628 shares in the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other Meta Platforms news, CFO Susan J. Li sold 8,553 shares of the stock in a transaction on Saturday, February 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $736.67, for a total value of $6,300,738.51. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 51,793 shares in the company, valued at approximately $38,154,349.31. This represents a 14.17 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 10,100 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, December 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $601.54, for a total transaction of $6,075,554.00. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 631,415 shares of company stock valued at $414,365,524 in the last three months. 13.71% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

Shares of META opened at $582.36 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.48 trillion, a P/E ratio of 24.35, a P/E/G ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 2.98 and a current ratio of 2.98. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 1 year low of $414.50 and a 1 year high of $740.91. The company’s fifty day moving average is $656.80 and its two-hundred day moving average is $604.84.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The social networking company reported $8.02 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $6.75 by $1.27. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 37.91% and a return on equity of 38.17%. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $5.33 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.525 per share. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.36%. This is an increase from Meta Platforms’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is 8.78%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have issued reports on META. Cantor Fitzgerald increased their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $720.00 to $790.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $770.00 price objective (up from $700.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Citigroup lifted their target price on Meta Platforms from $753.00 to $780.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. KeyCorp cut their price target on Meta Platforms from $750.00 to $710.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday. Finally, Piper Sandler lifted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $670.00 to $775.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, thirty-five have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $718.31.

Meta Platforms Profile

Meta Platforms, Inc engages in the development of products that enable people to connect and share with friends and family through mobile devices, personal computers, virtual reality headsets, and wearables worldwide. It operates in two segments, Family of Apps and Reality Labs. The Family of Apps segment offers Facebook, which enables people to share, discuss, discover, and connect with interests; Instagram, a community for sharing photos, videos, and private messages, as well as feed, stories, reels, video, live, and shops; Messenger, a messaging application for people to connect with friends, family, communities, and businesses across platforms and devices through text, audio, and video calls; and WhatsApp, a messaging application that is used by people and businesses to communicate and transact privately.